A/N: Happy Halloween! I don't have any new story entry for this event since my mind is not working but this chapter fits the season :)
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The moon is shining brightly and the cold breeze is blowing. Just like what Michael promised to Samantha, she will get to know him tonight. Michael will open himself up and reveal to Samantha his true self. He will not hide anymore. He loves Samantha and he believes that she loves him too. She loves him enough to accept him.
Michael is holding on to her words. That she will not leave him whatever happens. That she will going to accept him no matter what version of him she will see.
"You live here?" Samantha asked while clinging his hands on his arm.
Michael brought her to his home. The bermudas that surrounding the house are very green. The flowers are in full bloom too. The nearby trees have light decorations all over it, making the place bright and lively.
Samantha roamed her eyes around. The windows are covered with curtains but the house is oozing with bright lights. It is welcoming already and the home feels warm.
But, to her thinking, the home is a familiar place.
It is a two-storey home and there's a small staircase in front before you can reach the main door. The house is very beautiful. And it is not a house. It is a home. It is screaming a warming feeling but the night breeze remained cold that it can tickle a spine.
"Yes. I live here." Michael said proudly when they stopped from walking and admired the mansion.
"It's beautiful."
"Thank you." He answered as he examined Samantha's expressions.
Michael just wants to make sure that Samantha is still okay and there is no hint that she wanted to run away.
"But it's familiar. I think I've been here before." Samantha shared to him.
Her eyebrows are knitted, trying to remember but then, it is Michael's home. She never visited his home.
"You'll know eventually." He just whispered and looked at her, assuring. "Let's go inside?"
Samantha nodded her head and let Michael to guide her until they are inside the warm home. In contrast to what she observed from outside, the ambiance of the home is not that jolly and lively. In fact, even all the lights are on, it still feels dark and gloomy because of the red and dark theme that surrounds them.
"Grandma, this is Samantha." Michael introduced to an old lady who is walking slowly from the kitchen to the living room. "She's my girlfriend."
"Why did you bring her here?" The grandmother said.
She continued to walk across the place until she is no longer in sight. Samantha didn't even got a glimpse of the old lady's face. All she knows is that, Michael's grandma is wearing a white, old-fashioned casual dress. Her hair is white too and it reached her shoulders.
Michael just tightened his grip on Samantha's hand to comfort her. She just shrugged the remarks away. Maybe, grandma is just in a bad mood to entertain some guests.
Samantha just smiled at him and then, another old person showed in the room. The old man came from the stairs and he stood in front of them. He is taller than Michael and he is wearing white, long sleeved top with black suspenders. He just stared at Samantha blankly.
"The moment you took the guitar, you let Michael to be part of your life." The old man said and moved away to leave them.
"Guitar? What guitar?" Samantha questioned because she got confused for a second.
Michael just looked plainly at her. She even roamed her eyes around the house again.
"Are you okay? You want to meet them, right? You want to know more about me?" Michael dismissed her questions and just checked on her.
Samantha really felt that the place is familiar as she observed the details again.
"You can handle it, right?"
"What exactly should I be prepared for?" Samantha asked.
Before Michael can answer her quests, a lady on a wheelchair who is in her 40s showed up. She is accompanied by a little boy who shared the same age with Rin and Miggy.
"Son? Is she the one whom you always talking about?" The lady asked sweetly to Michael.
Even before they can react to the woman's words, a man who is also in his 40s walked towards the couple. He looks like Michael but the man is taller and bigger.
"Make sure that you won't leave Michael, Sam." The man warned her and Samantha felt her skin shivered.
"Samantha." Michael called her attention so she looked at him. "Meet my father, my mother, and my brother."
Samantha got confused even more. What is happening right now contradicted his own words.
"I thought..." She started while switching her gazes to all the people in the room. "Michael, I thought you already lost them?"
"You haven't told her, Michael?" His father inquired.
Samantha started to feel her heart beating loudly. Her breathings started to hitch too. She doesn't know exactly why but she became nervous all of a sudden.
And nervous is an understatement to what she really feel.
"Sam..." The man continued as he stared at Samantha. "All of us in here... are already dead."
Everything that happened in Samantha's life flashed across her mind. The darkness consumed her again as she continued to look at everyone in the room. She is just waiting for someone to say that they are just kidding. That this is just a prank but it never came.
Samantha looked at Michael but he just looked serious. No other emotions are can be seen on his face. Samantha pulled her hands from him as she stepped back. The whole place is starting to get dim and creepy. She is not just nervous now. She is afraid.
She took a few more steps back, her breathings are rapid. In a blink, everyone is now in the same room with her. His grandfather even lighted a candle and suddenly, it smelled like November.
His family members gathered in the same space and Michael is no longer in her sight.
Her panic attacks reached its peak as she stumbled her way to leave the house. And the moment she stepped her feet outside, everything changed. The garden is now dried. The bermudas and the flowers are not there anymore. The previously well-lighted home is now dark and haunted.
It is the haunted and abandoned mansion.
It is where they celebrated Jasmine's birthday. The place where they scared the crap out of their friend before yelling a birthday surprise to her.
Now, Samantha knows why the place seemed familiar. She been there before.
She gave a final look at the mansion, making sure that she is seeing it clearly. Nothing changed. It remained the creepy and scary home.
Samantha run away from the haunted home but Michael suddenly showed up in her way, causing her to scream like hell.
Michael's look is so different to what Samantha knew. It is still his face but, there are blood spots all over his face and clothes. His white, ruffled, silky shirt has stains all over it.
He looks pale too.
And cold. Really cold.
"You promised me, Samantha."
Michael blurted out the words that he wants to say. His eyes are glassy but his tone is screaming his disappointments and anger. The hurt in his voice is also evident.
"You said, you're gonna accept me no matter what version of me you will see." His voice cracked and his facial expressions darkened.
"Michael? You too?"
That's the only thing Samantha can say. Her tears are already flowing and her heart is booming like crazy. She is hoping that what his father said was a complete lie.
Or maybe, she wants to believe that Michael is an exception but when he showed up with a different look? Presenting himself as a corpse? She lost it.
She doesn't care if she broke a promise. All she wants is to run away from that place.
"Samantha!" He stopped her from running but she fought back.
His touches are cold just like what she felt the first time their skins touched. The scenario where she jumped across the large crack in the abandoned building. She said that he is cold but he answered that she is just warm.
Maybe, she is right all along.
He is cold. Dead cold.
"Samantha!"
"No!" She cried and pushed him away. She managed to free herself and run as fast as she can.
Samantha escaped from Michael and she run, her gazes went back to the mansion again. The curtains are being swayed by the cold wind. She saw the family members looking at her through the windows.
They are staring at her and the way they look is as dead as them. As cold as them.
She took a minute, watching what is happening. No one is moving a muscle. Every window she sees, there is someone watching. Her breathings are still rapid while she roamed her gazes.
She switched her sight and there she saw, a few meters away from her, Michael.
He didn't chase after her anymore. He is just standing there, waiting for her next actions. He is deeply hurt. Another wound damaged his heart. A tear escaped from his eyes as he watched her running away from the mansion.
Away from him.
Samantha managed to be away from the house but when she jogged a narrow and dim path, she saw a familiar stance.
"Dad?" She whispered.
She approached him, still maintaining a distance. Henry is holding a bottle of beer, getting himself drunk. He is wearing the same clothes he wore when Samantha saw him under the bridge, dead.
Like Michael, there is blood on his face and clothes too.
"Dad?" She repeated.
Instead of acknowledging Samantha, Henry has a dark expression on his face. He groaned darkly and he let out a deafening scream. Samantha can't help herself but to scream at the top of her lungs.
It is not the father that she knew. It is another cold and bloody soul.
A lost soul.
Samantha doesn't want to accept what she is seeing. It is too much that all she can do is to cry and scream.
From afar, Michael watched how she suffered. This is what he is preventing to happen when he cut the ties between them. But then, he really believes that she loves him and she can change the course but that didn't happen. He just watched her as painful tears fell from his brown eyes.
Samantha felt her heart clenched. Everything is too much that she wants to consider herself dead too. She gathered all her strength and screamed loudly until she ripped her throat. She closed her eyes and roared in frustration.
The next thing she knew, she wakes up from a deep sleep and the sunlight is striking her face.
It is a brand new morning.
Everything is just a nightmare.